


The Aftermath

by SomedayonBroadway



Series: The Operator [2]
Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: 911 emergency services, Aftermath, Angst, Brotherly Love, Hurt/Comfort, Oneshot, Recovery, Sequel, The Call, locked in trunk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-27 06:17:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20943701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomedayonBroadway/pseuds/SomedayonBroadway
Summary: David said he was safe. David said Jack was coming. David said it would all be okay.But Race was still scared.





	The Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! I hope all of you are excited for this as much as I am!
> 
> Alright! The moment you've all been waiting for!
> 
> A panicking little boy with no one familiar around him!
> 
> Enjoy!

Race wished he could make himself go numb. He wished he could get his head to stop throbbing. His throat was raw. He could still taste the vomit that had forced itself up after he'd hit solid ground again.

David said he was safe. David said Jack was coming. David said it would all be okay.

But Race was still scared.

He could still feel the hands on him, could still feel himself moving, being driven further and further away from everything he'd ever known. He wanted someone familiar.

The nurses begged him to settle down. He did the best he could. He sniffled and tried so desperately to breathe normally. His tears slowed, but did not stop flowing down his already soaked cheeks. They said he'd go numb.

He didn't feel the stitches that were going into his forehead. But he wasn't numb. Not even a little. "Please... please c'n David come in?" he begged quietly. "Please?"

They said he couldn't. Because he wasn't family. But Race needed someone. Someone familiar. Anyone. Any adult that he trusted. He didn't care anymore. Medda. Spot. Katherine. Mr. Kloppman. Hell, he'd settle for his father at that moment, the one who'd given him up ten years ago and rarely made an effort to speak to him. But he'd give almost anything to see Jack walk through the door in front of him.

He just wanted Jack.

"Settle down, honey..."

"No! Please let him in!" the boy cried, shoving the woman's hand away as she tried get him to lay down. He didn't want to. He didn't want to be here. He just wanted to go home.

There were two nurses in the room. One woman and one man. He'd been good this whole time, even when they took a needle to his face. He'd let them do their job. But he couldn't sit here with strangers anymore. "Tyler, we need to make sure-"

"No!" The child jumped up, pulling away from them and trying to run to the door. But arms circled around him. Panic settled in him.

He only saw red.

"Lemme go! Let go!" he begged as he was dragged back. "Jack!" He couldn't help but scream the name. In some clouded part of his mind he still had hope that he'd wake up. That Jack would hear him screaming and come to hold him and sit up with him for the rest of the night.

He heard someone harshly shushing him. He felt someone wrapping a hand around his throat. Over his mouth. He screamed, struggling harder.

"Who did he come in with?!"

"Has his guardian shown up yet?"

He fought tooth and nail as he was dragged back. More people were there. He couldn't tell how many. But he felt more hands on his wrists. He could feel the man's hands. He didn't know where he was anymore. He fought to get away. "Please! David! Jack!"

"Okay! Okay, pal... it's okay! I'm right here..."

Race cried out again. He was trapped beneath too many hands. The walls were going to close in soon. "If he doesn't settle down, we'll have to strap him down. He really needs to rest..."

"Okay! Tyler, hey... Jack is almost here, I promise..."

The child shook his head. He shoved the arms away and forced his one working eye open. He shot up, wrapping his thin arms around the man standing above him, burying his face in the man's shirt.

A bit startled, David stiffened. The boy's tears were soaking through his shirt. But he felt the kid's fists tightening in the fabric and he couldn't stop himself from wrapping the boy up slowly. "Okay... hey, Jack is coming... I promise, he's coming..." he tried to soothe, but Race did not seem to relax at the news.

"I wanna go home..." he whimpered.

"I know, kid..."

The boy was in a hospital gown. He was exhausted. He had been taken for no good reason, shoved and trapped in a small trunk for almost three hours, dragged into some kind of underground bunker, tied to a chair and almost scalped. He just wanted to go home.

And David wished he could let him.

For a long moment, they stayed there. And small, broken sobs escaped Race. Everything in him wished to collapse. He just wanted it to be over. He just wanted to be done. He just wanted to crawl into Jack's bed and into Jack's lap and he wanted Jack to pretend like he hadn't been asleep like they both knew he was and then turn on a movie on his old television and hold him until he fell asleep.

But he let David, someone who was almost a stranger to him, run hands through his hair and hold him to his chest. He sniffled and held tightly to him. "I don' wan' 'em ta touch me..." he whimpered. "I wan' Jackie..."

David's heart broke for what must've been the millionth time. He nodded, opening his mouth to speak, just as a commotion was heard outside the door.

"Get outta my way!" People were shouting. But none as loud as that man.

"Sounds like Jackie wants you too," David almost joked, pulling away a bit as the door was shoved open.

The man revealed himself and the operator froze for a minute. In all the years he'd known Jack, he'd never once seen the man like this. Tears freely streaming down his face. His hair a mess. Dressed in only a white t-shirt and his uniform pants. His cheeks were soaked. His eyes were red rimmed and wide as they landed so suddenly on the traumatized child on the bed.

Time seemed to stop for a moment. Nobody moved. Even the nurses stopped breathing. But when Jack regained the ability to speak, all that would come out were sobs. "Don't you ever scare me like that again!" he cried, rushing up to the boy and wrapping him up tighter than he had in a long time. The boy screamed in relief. A barrier of protection surrounded him as Jack lifted him up and sat down on the bed himself, holding him in his lap and leaning over him, practically daring the world to try and take this precious child away from him again. "You hear me, Tyler?!"

He didn't mean to scream. The boy in his arms flinched, but his head nodded violently beneath Jack's chin. "Don' le'go... please don't let go..." the child begged, curling up against his guardian.

"I am never leaving you alone as long as you live!" Jack swore, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment, somehow tightening his hold on his boy. He tried to remember how to breathe. Race sobbed hard in his arms. "Shhhhh... shshshshsh... look at me, baby... look at me..." Jack coaxed, moving one of his hands to his baby brother's cheek and guiding his face up. Eventually, he gently moved the boy's face so that their foreheads tapped against each other. "Look at me..."

Jack's heart was in his throat. He couldn't breathe. All he could do was stare down at his kid and pet the back of his hair. One of those bright blue eyes was swollen shut. It was almost completely black. And the other was filled to the brim with tears. Jack took in the boy's features. "You're so brave, baby... I am so proud of you, d'ya know that?"

Another whimper escaped the teenager. "I love you, Jack... I love you... s-so much n'-"

"Shhhhhhhh..." Jack hushed again, moving fo press a kiss to the child's nose and then his forehead, bringing him back to his chest. "I love you... I love you so, so much, baby..."

The nurses were quick to leave the brothers alone, doing what they had to before making their quiet exit.

David watched the scene with an ache in his chest. He felt a bit out of place. The affection was touching. But he didn't belong here.

He stood to leave, only for a hand to grasp his wrist with a sort of desperation. He looked down to find Jack staring back up at him, over Race's head that was tucked beneath his chin. "Thank you..." he whispered genuinely, pressing another kiss to the boy's head. "Thank you, Davey... where did you find him? How-"

"H-he found me in the woods..." Race tried to explain, not looking up from the young man's chest. "I-I-"

"Racer... take a breath... it's okay..." David hushed, moving to take a seat in the chair at the boy's bedside. He hadn't thought this part through. He really hadn't. "I went up there to help look for him... and I found him running through the woods... he said he escaped..."

Jack looked a bit skeptical, but didn't argue. He just looked down at the boy in his arms. "How did you get away, bubba?" he whispered. The boy shook his head and buried himself further in the man's embrace. "Okay... okay... calm down... I gotchu, Tyler... I gotcha... just relax... rest, it's alright..."

The boy nodded against him. And for a moment, he remained quiet. But it couldn't stay that way for long. "Jackie?" he asked, his voice still watery and shaken.

"Yeah, baby..."

"Could you sing ta me?"

Hot tears rolled down Jack's cheeks even faster. He nodded jerkily. "Yeah, baby..." he replied, resting his cheek on his brother's blond curls and inhaling deeply before letting the breath go. Race shivered, but settled back against him quick.

And Jack began to hum. David recognized there tune, but he couldn't place it. It was old. That's as much as he knew.

The kid had a breakdown the second David had suggested playing music on the drive to the hospital. Just to keep him awake. He begged David not to. He hadn't even wanted to get into the car in the first place.

It was a long while of the Jack humming and rocking the child in his arms. He ran hands through the boy's hair. He rubbed behind his ears and stroked his chin with his thumb. But eventually, the boy fell into a light sleep. That was right about when the door opened again.

Jack felt Race tense in his arms. Only slightly. He didn't truly wake up.

"Charlie, you can't just run away from me like that!" someone whispered. Jack blinked back the tears in his eyes. He held his brother closer, looking up to find another young man rushing into the room with a little boy. The boy had a crutch under his arm. "Hey, Jackie-boy..."

Without moving his lips from their buried spot in his baby brother's hair, Jack blinked as his eyes stung. "Hey Spottie..." he croaked, watching as Charlie rushed over to the bed, staring down at his big brothers. He looked so scared. "Kath n' Medda-"

"They're behind us... this little sucker's faster than we give him credit for," he informed quietly, letting his eyes drift down to Racer. "You got some brave kids here, Jack..."

"Don't, Sean..." the other man pleaded, shaking his head. He knew what his friend was trying to do. Trying to tell him he'd done something right even though he'd let this happen. "Just... don't..."

"Okay..." the other man sighed, lifting up Crutchie and settling him on the bed next to his brothers. They all watched as Racer subconsciously wrapped the younger child up in his arms and let him rest against his chest.

The innocent boy curled up immediately, pressing a kiss to Race's chin. "Bubba..." he whispered, burying his face in his brother's chest.

Jack held both his boys close. "Don't wake up your brother, baby... if you wanna stay up here ya gotta stay still n' ya gotta stay quiet," he instructed gently, leaning to press a kiss to that boy's head too. The child just nodded.

Not one for too much affection, Spot walked past the bed and over to the other man in the room. "Well if it ain't the Walkin' Mouth... how ya been, kid?" Spot smiled, holding his hand out for David to shake. The other man let out a small laugh.

"Been doin' as well as I can, Conlon..."

"Yeah... thank you, though... seriously... for... for bringing him back to us..."

David could only nod and shake the man's hand. "Wasn't me. That kid fights hard." He did. He really did.

"Still... thanks..."

The door opened again. Two women walked in. Katherine and Medda. Medda was running. Katherine looked exhausted. "Oh, my babies!" Medda cried quietly, rushing over to the bed. She took in the sight of the three brothers carefully. Her eyes lingered on Tyler for a long time. But, eventually, she leaned down to kiss Jack's head.

"The nurses tried to tell us we couldn't all be in here... so Medda and I had to persuade them a little..." Katherine explained, quietly, moving to fetch another chair from beside the window and setting it next to Davey, gesturing for Medda to take a seat.

The woman took it gratefully. "How is he? Okay?"

Jack nodded. "Traumatized... but alive..." he replied solemnly. "His head got cut open n' he took a good punch... he'll be alright, though... I know he will..."

No one argued. How could they? This boy had just been to hell and back. Maybe he'd have nightmares for the rest of his life. Maybe he'd never want to go outside again. Maybe he'd avoid cars like the plague and never want to learn how to drive one himself. But he was alive.

And that was all that mattered.

—

Race heard tires screeching. He could see someone walking up to him. He tried to back away.

He couldn't.

His eyes shot open. He gasped. But he didn't move. He'd hit his head on the ceiling again. He needed David. He needed to talk to David.

Only, everything was bright. Way too bright.

His heart rate began to return to normal as he remembered where he was. Who he was with. Whose arms were around him. Jack was holding him. He was safe. He was safe with Jack.

His little brother was curled up beside them, against Jack's hip, asleep. Race knew that Jack was asleep too. His brother's hand rested in his hair, but did not move. His chest was rising and falling steadily, not like it had been when he'd first gotten there.

The child sniffled. His cheeks felt sticky and his eyes were tired. He could feel right eye beginning to loosen a bit. He could almost crack it open. But he couldn't see a thing out of it. "Stupid Spider..." he breathed, swallowing hard to keep a sob from escaping. He'd rather be angry than scared. He'd rather be thinking about how his vision would affect his habit of playing piano and guitar than thinking about that trunk again.

He felt sick.

How was he supposed to go to school? How was he supposed to show his face again? He'd been on the news. Everyone had seen him. Everyone knew he'd been taken.

He couldn't handle the looks. The pity. The concerned or not concerned questions.

If he could stay here for the rest of his life, he would. Right here, with his brothers. With Jack. With the first person who had ever really fought for him, fought to protect him.

"You awake, pal?"

"Yeah..." Race responded, taking a moment to place the voice.

"Me too..."

He could hear someone moving. Someone from behind him. He blinked for a moment until his vision cleared and he could make out a blurry figure in front of him, placing a chair down silently and sitting down. It was David.

Race sniffled again. The man offered him a small, sad smile. And Race looked down. "I... I don' think I eva' said thanks..." he whispered, his voice quivering with every word. "So... thanks..." He snuggled into Jack's chest a little further.

David's heart melted. "I was just doin' my job, kid-"

"I would be dead without you, Davey..." the boy stressed quietly, blinking the tears back out of his eyes. The operator bit his lip. It was true. He knew it was true. He could hardly bear the thought. "Comin' an' gettin' me wasn't part of your job... s-so _thank you_..."

The words hit David full force. He nodded. "You're a strong kid, ya know that?" he asked. Race didn't respond. He just tightened a hand in Jack's shirt. "Stronger 'n most... I'm proud of you... Jack's proud of you..."

Sniffling once again, Race nodded. He pulled his knees up closer to his body. And he looked up. "Are we gonna be okay?" he asked so genuinely it hurt.

David thought hard about that question. He wondered it himself. He could still hear the man screaming somewhere at the back of his mind. But, in the end, he nodded. "Yeah, kid... we're gonna be alright..."

And maybe, one day, they would be.

**Author's Note:**

> And there you have it! Thank you all so so much for coming along on this journey with me! It means so much!
> 
> Just because I want to, Jack and Race and Crutchie's backstory is this:
> 
> Jack didn't meet Race and Crutchie until Race was five and Crutchie was two. He knew they existed, but he wasn't allowed to see them. Before this, he had a relatively "normal life". His mother and father still were married and raising him together. But Jack's father had no idea that his wife had had an affair. With two different men. Brothers. Out of those affairs, came Race and Crutchie. After finding out that the boys weren't his, Jack's father sent them away to live with their father. Years later, the two brothers of these two babies collectively decided that these kids shouldn't be their problem and dropped them back on their mother and just... never really came back to see them.
> 
> That's really when Jack's father started getting abusive. He hated Race and Crutchie because they reminded him of his wife's affairs and Jack would immediately want to protect them with everything in him. A few years into this, their mother leaves them. Jack's dad is pissed and goes harder on them so Jack is constantly taking them out of the house and trying to keep his brothers away from his dad until he turns eighteen and tries to fight for custody, when - of course - their mother comes back and tries to fight for "her kids" even though she hadn't been around for years. That's what made the adoption so difficult.
> 
> Anyways, just thought you all should know.
> 
> Again, thank you to all of you who stuck with this story! It really means the world to me!
> 
> As always, thanks for reading! Make sure to tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, what you'd change or what you'd improve by leaving me a review! Love ya fansies!


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